You can always depend on Dutch conductor
Bernard Haitink. No matter what the repertoire or the venue,
Haitink will always give you clear, clean, and accurate performances joined to ideally balanced and completely objective interpretations. Unfortunately, this quality makes
Haitink especially vulnerable to the quality of his collaborators. With a great orchestra or soloists,
Haitink is capable of greatness. But with a lesser orchestra or soloists,
Haitink is capable of tedium.
In his 1988 recording of Wagner's Die Walküre,
Haitink is given a close to great cast and turns in a close to great performance. With the magisterial James Morris as Wotan, the regal
Waltraud Meier as Fricka, the frightful Matti Salminen as Hunding, and particularly the imperious
Eva Marton as Brünnhilde,
Haitink had four unsurpassed leads. Unfortunately, with the often wobbly
Reiner Goldberg as Siegmund and the not quite under control
Cheryl Studer as Sieglinda,
Haitink has two distinctly less than convincing leads who dominate Act One. Still, with the superlative playing of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks,
Haitink supports them all with unstinting dedication. But while this means a radiantly luminous climax for Act Three between Morris and
Marton, it also means an over-the-top climax for Act One from
Goldberg and
Studer. EMI's early digital sound is big, wide, and colorful.